| GUEST
EDITORIAL
SAFEPLAN - a method
for addressing uncertainty in forest planning
Timberline, Vancouver A bit of background
In British Columbia (BC) 95% of forest land is
publicly owned, and harvesting is done under license. Licensees prepare
Forest Development Plans (FDPs), which detail areas proposed for harvest
over the next 5 years. Preparation and revision of these plans allow for
discussion and resolution of complex planning issues including competing
interests, economic feasibility, social acceptability, and environmental
protection. 301 FDPs are prepared Province-wide per year. The annual cost
for preparing and reviewing FDPs exceeds $32 million in BC. In spite of
these resources, actual outcomes of forest management routinely differ
from those described in the original FDPs because of incomplete knowledge
when planning about natural disturbance events, changes in social values
or policy, and economic cycles. This uncertainty leads to an average of
2,700 FDP amendments per year . The annual cost of preparing and reviewing
these amendments exceeds $12 million. Furthermore, frequent amendments
and unexpected outcomes undermine public confidence in the planning process.
To improve planning cost-effectiveness and increase
the efficiency and realism of plans, a method for Spatially Analyzing Forest
PLANning outcomes and uncertainty (SAFEPLAN) has been developed by myself
and Steve Mitchell, RPF at the University of British Columbia’s department
of Forest Sciences.
SAFEPLAN method
SAFEPLAN is a GIS-based method used to:
Step 1.
Compilation of information
Step 2.
Preparation of grid cells and centroids
Step 3.
Attachment of feature data
Step 4.
Querying the data
Step 5.
Investigating causes of unexpected outcomes
Applications of the SAFEPLAN method
SAFEPLAN was applied to forest development planning
occurring between 1995-1999 in a 41,000ha unit within the Arrow Timber
Supply Area. The history of the 1,914 ha that were proposed in FDPs for
harvesting during that period of time was tracked. Of the area proposed
for harvesting, only 27% was actually harvested. In the first year following
proposal in an FDP, 44% of cells were dropped. Some of the indicators of
planning efficacy estimated were:
One third of the cells for which harvest was approved
were not harvested. Forty % of these unharvested cells were located in
areas growing stands with marginal merchantability (economic uncertainty),
30% were located either in visually sensitive areas or in community watersheds
(social uncertainty), and 16% were in areas reserved from cutting to meet
FPC wildlife habitat requirements (policy uncertainty). Eleven % of cells
were harvested without being proposed in any FDP. These were mostly located
in areas of mountain beetle outbreaks and in edges of old cutblocks where
windthrow occurs (ecosystem uncertainty).
From this application of SAFEPLAN, recommendations
were made to licensees to improve planning efficacy, such as:
Currently Timberline
develops new applications for SAFEPLAN. Some of these applications will
be tested in strategic and tactical planning improvements by West Fraser
in the Caribou Forest Region.
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| Inventory...A
History: Part 2
"Transportation and access remained more or less unchanged, with the exception of improved transportation infrastructure, improved trucks, and utilization of helicopters for aerial surveying, the latter arguably providing the greatest single contribution to the inventory process before and since." Mike Sandvoss Timberline, Prince George By the late 1930’s the provinces were moving away from the ‘crop surveys’ of the timber cruisers, to the more economics focused forest surveys able to provide a level of information to enable a forest to be managed for sustainable fiber production; the focus was still on forest (tree) management. The focus remained on the ‘merchantable and mature stands’ as defined then, with little effort in immature stands, recent burns, and such.
Most inventories being carried out were still broad based, but were
collecting and enabling the reporting on of more and more data. As
well, depletions due to natural and anthropogenic factors were also beginning
to be tracked. By the early 1960’s, inventories of varying degrees
of detail and based on varying scales of photographs had been completed
across Canada. Usually, on completion of one broad level ‘reconnaissance’
inventory, another more detailed inventory was starting up shortly thereafter,
as the need for more information and greater resolution became evident.
Field work began to move away from sample strips and transects, to stratified
random sampling, and authoritative sampling. Transportation and access
remained more or less unchanged, with the exception of improved transportation
infrastructure, improved trucks, and utilization of helicopters for aerial
surveying, the latter arguably providing the greatest single contribution
to the inventory process before and since. These were the days of true ‘classification’, where field measured attributes were averaged and collapsed into larger unit classes for reporting…a practice that was to remain in effect for another five decades in British Columbia, and longer in some other provinces. During the mid 1960’s, growing environmental pressures (extremely light when compared to today’s standards) were driving those agencies responsible for completing and maintaining forest inventories, to report (at least at a cursory level) on some non-forest, non timber-volume generating cover types. A slow move towards the full vegetation inventories that would begin to crop up two decades later was starting. In addition, the inventories themselves, though built on the foundation of reporting on timber values, were being used quite successfully for purposes beyond their initial design. To meet some of these additional use-pressures, new technologies were being investigated and applied to enhance the now routine re-inventory process being followed that would see a continuous upgrade and updating of the inventories now in place across Canada. Based on available provincial funding and requirements, technologies such as digital mapping, GIS, 70mm large scale photography (investigated and applied in BC and Ontario in the early 1980’s and in Alberta in the late 1980’s), and satellite imagery, to name just a few, were sought out for ways to improve the amount of readily obtainable and cost effective information that could be collected to assist with the improvement of the inventory processes. At the same time, through the increasing use of now relatively cheap computers (in the 286 league and slower), the possibility now existed to assign absolute measured attributes to forest cover types, rather than the broad attribute classes that had been integral to the ‘classified’ inventories of the previous 70 years. However, some provinces were to hold onto ‘classified’ attributes for decades to come.
During the early 1980’s it became apparent that even more information was required to properly manage not only the forest (timber) resources but all resources and resource values. Numerous inventory concepts began to take shape many of which were supported by the emergence of new technologies. The numerous forest inventories across Canada began to be augmented by province specific inventories such as Recreation Inventories, Visual Landscape Inventories, Ecological Inventories, etc. Next issue: Replacement of the traditional forest cover inventories with vegetation inventories and the introduction of new technologies. |
The area covered
by inventories increased every decade, with programs established in almost
every province, with varying degrees of surveying detail. The surveying
methods remained relatively unchanged (and would continue to remain unchanged
for many more decades), with field crews accessing inventory project areas
by floatplane, truck (where trucks and roads existed), and boat.
Aerial
photos only started to be used for inventory purposes in the early 1930’s,
and by the early 40’s had become the primary method for surveying and mapping
forest cover type boundaries onto the planimetric base maps. The
increased use of aerial photographs introduced a significant cost saving
to inventory work, as it allowed for less intensive field visitation. Field
visitation requirements were dropped to half of what they had been previous
to this technological innovation. Another technological innovation,
punch cards, were now allowing inventory data to be coded and exist separately
from the maps for easier tabulation and reporting.
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| Pikangikum's
Whitefeather Forest Initiative Successfully Launches Into Third Planning
Year
"we are a First Nation on the move and we are taking charge of our economic future" April 4, 2002 Wawatay News  The
recent announcement of funding support for the Whitefeather Forest Initiative
of Pikangikum by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has been welcomed by
the Chief and Council of the First Nation. A contribution of $726,000 by
the Heritage Fund will support Year #3 Planning Activities of a 5year
workplan of the First Nation to develop the initiative. "This is
very good news for us." said Deputy Chief Paddy Peters of the official
funding announcement by Ontario Minister of Northern Development Dan Newman.
Referring to the Minister's announcement, Peters went on to add, "It is
good to hear the Minister affirm how our First Nations can and should initiate
and lead our own resource-based community economic development initiatives
for our people. The way to success is for our First Nation to be in the
driver's seat on these types of resource-based initiatives. It is good
to hear Mr. Newman affirm that initiatives like the Whitefeather Forest
Initiatives can achieve success when they are rooted in our culture, our
traditions and our way of life. Our Whitefeather Forest Initiative is a
good news story for our people. We need people to understand
that we are a First Nation on the move and that we are taking charge of
our economic future. We are responding to the needs and priorities of our
people."
Year 3 Planning activities for the initiative will include Community-based Land Use Planning and Biophysical Data Collection projects. The biophysical data collection will be carried out by the First Nation through its co-venture partnership with Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants. "Through our partnership, which is majority owned by us, we remain in charge of the whole process." said Councillor Samson Keeper from Pikangikum. "The information we are developing is owned by our community. For example, at the end of our Forest Resource Inventory (FRI) development process, we will have the most sophisticated knowledge of our forests. We will have precise knowledge of their commercial value and potential. We are confident that our FRI will exceed all existing data standards used in the industry in Ontario at the same time. Outside industrial companies will not have this information. We will. This will help us meet the direction our Elders gave us to know exactly the value of our forests and why outsiders are so interested in them. It will allow us to take the lead in the development of positive future partnerships for the sustainable harvest of timber resources within our traditional territories. " Keeper added.
The Whitefeather Forest Initiative was begun by Pikangikum in 1996. Building on the work of the First Nation to establish its own laundromat, hotel, restaurant, independent power business, Whitefeather Waters outpost camp network and other businesses, the Whitefeather Forest Initiative emphasizes the participation of Pikangikum members in all of its aspects. In the more than $4 million in planning activities being carried out at present and starting in April, Pikangikum members have been involved throughout. Samson Keeper emphasized the importance of this. He said, "We have a four person Community Research Team. We have trained another group of Pikangikum youth in GIS data entry. They will be employed in loading digital map data this coming year. Last year, we trained a group of people in biophysical data collection. They will be working again this summer. As our partnership expands so will our capacities and skills. We will stay in the driver¹s seat in our initiative." Keeper added. Pikangikum Council expressed concern that their good news stories should be welcomed by the non-native community. They feel that for too long outsiders have stereotyped Pikangikum people. This saddens and frustrates them. They believe that outsiders, including government officials, do not make enough effort to understand them. They emphasize that the First Nation has lots of good news stories. They would like outsiders to learn and understand who Pikangikum people really are. While they cherish their traditions and customs, they also know what they want. Council members note that Pikangikum people are on their healing path. "We know that through hard experience that we must be in the driver's seat in terms of our economic future. Success on our healing path depends on putting all of our trust, faith, and love in the Creator and then acting to live the traditions that have been passed on to us. We are on our way." concluded Deputy Chief Peters. For more information on the Pikangikum/Timberline relationship, Whitefeather Forest Management Corp, please contact Tony Saint - Timberline, Edmonton. |
Councillor
Keeper went on to note how the Whitefeather Forest Initiative fits into
the new "information economy" in a special way. He said, "The biophysical
data we are collecting is only part or our information gathering process.
This information will complement the comprehensive documentation of our
First Nation knowledge of our traditional territories that our own membership
are carrying out right now. We have a complete 4 work station computer
mapping network. It is located in our Small Business Centre. This is where
our Community Research Team works. We are proud of the work of our Community
Research Team. Their work documenting our indigenous knowledge in
a form that we can use in discussions with potential partners and others
will be very useful in our Community-Based Land Use Planning discussions."
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